Tempest
by Divinus Odium
Summary: AU. They were always shaken up by reality, reminded of life's harsh lessons at each turn. And just as the clouds in the sky start to clear up, does the weather decide to be unpredictable once more.
1. Prologue

**I**t was the beginning of many, many things. The people were roaring, the bodyguards struggled against them, and the Shinra representative was sweating at the sight of them. They knew it was inevitable, their fall and the rise of the rebellion. But it didn't matter; today defined what would happen years from now, the talks among families during breakfast, the freedom of the wrongly accused, and those who fell victim to Shinra's ways. There was the thundering yells of the strongly affected, the cries of orphaned children, and anger laced at every tone. She hides within the crowd, but her heart is beating rapidly and her eyes scan through the strength within everyone's resolve. It took them so long to progress to this, so long to stand up and fight...

She glances at him, who shared a much more solemn, but matching expression to hers. He doesn't look back, too distracted by the voices. Adrenaline rushing at their veins as the crowd yells and evokes such strength from the both of them, they became more determined to be the foundation of the rebellion, to help break a path for the rest to follow and fight. This was a big step, and so many sacrifices have been made for this, but she knows, and he knows...

This is just the beginning.

—

_Nine months before..._

The sound of patrons, singing drunkenly with each other as well as some talking too loudly, fills her ears and she arches her eyebrow at the quiet man, who was just as suspicious and disbelieving as she was. Of course, neither party can be blamed; angry whispering and intense glares were all that came from them for a good thirteen minutes. She doesn't want to be mad at him, and neither does he with her—but it's hard. Very, very hard. After all's that happened...

He doesn't really make an effort to be put on a brighter light, for her to understand his intentions. He assumes she won't be patient, won't try to see from his perspective, and it honestly pours salt on an open wound. It hurts a little to see how their trust for each other just broke that easily, and she regrets everything.

"Cloud," she tries, his name nearly getting stuck in her throat, "help me understand. I can't always _know_." She doesn't care if she's pressing whatever matters he was troubled by, because she's been beating around the bush for far too long.

"I don't get it," he starts with a bitter tone, avoiding her gaze. "You said you wanted our pasts behind us, our history. But here you are, pursuing what's the main cause of _everything_." He emphasized his last word, and she could see his jaw clenched, eyes trying to bore holes on the wall.

She could tell this was far from the issue they really had, but she ignores that for a moment. "I can't let what happened to us happen to everyone else! You know how much it hurt—no, still hurts." She still smells smoke going in her lungs, and the feeling of blood oozing out, but she quickly blocks the memories from her head before she gets overwhelmed.

"Yeah, like a small group of terrorists can ever actually stop things," he mutters to himself.

"I know that. It's not about how small our group is; no one else would stand up from Shinra. We're not aiming to be written on history books here. We're aiming on trying our very best to give hope to the rest of the citizens fearing Shinra, so that they can fight against them." She frowns, then, "besides, while we seem to be a small group of people, we're not weaklings. And we're funded by the WRO."

"Tifa, Shinra's had their fingers wrapped around Midgar's citizens for over thirty years." He sounds nonchalant then, running a hand through his spiky hair. "Y'think there hasn't been attempts of rebellion within those years? Do you know what happened to them?" A foot takes a step forward to her, "executed. Publicly. Everyone had to watch as they struggled. Even SOLDIERs were helpless to save them." A distant look flashed through his eyes as he murmurs, "do you want the same thing to happen to you, too?"

Her eyes soften, but there's still a tinge of stubbornness in them. "I don't, Cloud. If I had my way, I wouldn't risk _anyone_'s lives for this. But I can't sit here and watch Shinra destroy our planet. I refuse to let them re-do what they've done to me." A sigh escaped her lips, trying to restore their previous conversation. "Which is why we're back to the topic at hand. In no way is this an obligation, and you are free to decline, but I'm offering you a spot in our group."

He frowns, leaning against the wall of the backroom. The floorboards creaked a little too dangerously, but he ignored it to contemplate. She could tell he was as furious as she was with Shinra, perhaps more, and that was enough of a reason to get him as a member. She didn't want to throw him to the danger they would experience, but morale was important. Someone who looks as strong as Cloud, who showed his strength by breaking a man's jaw with one nonchalant punch, would boost their group's enthusiasm.

He takes so long to reply, she nearly accepts it as rejection, and was about to speak when he stands up properly. With a small grunt, he replied, "fine. I'll do it."

—

**Author's Note**:

First of all, thank you for reading this. Second, I know the prologue sounds very akin to the universe they live in, but I promise you—it is AU once the plot starts to kick in. Hopefully, next chapter will have a gist of the plot. Otherwise...it'll be a filler chapter. That might be the needed push for the plot. I'll update the story next Saturday, and if I finish the third chapter around the weekend, then I'll sort of try to make it the updating schedule so that you can say, "oh! It's Saturday! This author probably updated!"

And just so you guys know how old they are, Cloud is twenty-seven in this chapter and Tifa is twenty-six. It'll be...circa 0013. I wanted to get that out of the way, 'cause it's going to come in handy in the future.

_Divinus Odium_


	2. Chapter I

**Author's Note**: Albeit a few hours late from Saturday, here is the next chapter for you. Once more, thank you for reading in advance, and share your thoughts if you wish to. And point out any grammatical errors, typos, and the like. I'm running through the chapter again tomorrow to clean it up, but if anyone has that pressuring need to correct, then do it, would you kindly?

—Divinus Odium.

—

**T**he first few meetings were eventful. Turns out that Cloud and Barret—the group leader—didn't like each other very much. Their personalities clashed, and Tifa was forced to be in the middle half of the time. The rest of the members just avoided saying anything that evoked any opinions from both sides. By the third meeting and the latest one, Cloud withdrew from participating in it much anymore, and while she felt like he was putting a distance from her again, she also knows it would be better if he did. Cloud and Barret had one thing in common, and that was their ability to lead. That's what made things harder; Barret thought one thing was better for the team, Cloud thought something else. So if they constantly clashed, there wouldn't be any progress at all.

In this flurry, Tifa was voted co-captain and while she didn't enjoy leading one bit, they actually listened to her more than Barret (a humorous reason would be because she feeds them for free, and they don't want to get on her bad side because of it). She had no idea why they do (though Biggs and Wedge seem to comply unconsciously—Jessie, at least, stared at her in the face while she followed orders) it, but if Barret was too busy trying to prove who was dominant between him and Cloud, she'd rather have some sort of purpose than dumbly stare at the two quarreling.

After the team had created strategies and planned out their next mission, the atmosphere became anxious. It was a risky operation, where there'll be a lot of close calls and many opportunities over blown off limbs. Even as they tried to drink themselves silly, there was a forced tone whenever they tried to joke around. Her bar's only noise was the oblivious patrons once more, but she couldn't help but feel like it's been a while since anyone talked.

Specifically, it's been a while since _Cloud_ talked. He was always the quiet one of the bunch, and she had learned that when they were children, but now he barely said a word to her. Especially after she announced that she would take part of the mission. She feels guilty, because she knows how many times he's been hurt by her flinging herself at danger's direction, but she can't back down from her promise. He'll have to deal with it now—he doesn't have a say in anything she wants to do. Not anymore.

She felt so pressured to break the ice, that she couldn't even start a conversation anymore. She just nodded to her drunk customers, tried to empathize with them, but her stomach ached by the gnawing feeling of something bad happening. What if—_no_. She knows making assumptions would end up making her more worried than necessary, and she had to have confidence in her teammates being smart enough to do their best and get out of tricky situations.

By the time the bar closes, the others go down to the secret hideout to try and get an uneasy rest; she spends this time by washing glasses and cleaning the tables. She doesn't know if she'll be cleaning them after tomorrow. She tries not to touch the rims of the glasses, because she doesn't trust that every one of her customers' mouths were clean. She scrubs the rims extra roughly, then places them on the sink and grabs another dirty glass.

The floorboards creak, and she glances over her shoulder to see Cloud rubbing the back of his neck. "Tifa?" he called, and she nearly couldn't hear him from the strong sound of the water running.

"Yeah?" she stops scrubbing, and she turns off the faucet so she could hear him better.

Silence fills the room for minutes, but she knows to be patient. Forcing it out of him would end up with him closing off completely. "Don't go," he murmurs silently, and she nearly flinched when she realized how close he was.

She shakes her head too furiously, and she knows she's baffled him. "No. I can't, Cloud." She glances at him, and she sees his muscles stiffen, before she mentally slaps her forehead. The same words were said long ago, what wedged the drift between them now. Tifa turns the faucet on again, continuing her scrub—though she couldn't bring her hands to stop shaking as she did it. There were footsteps again, though they were much more slower than earlier. In a sense, dejected.

When she knows he's back downstairs, she sighs wearily and feels numb when she finishes the last glasses and rinsed them. It must be the stress and anxiety causing her to be thinking about the past. A past he filled up with so many, many emotions...

She doesn't spend too much time dwelling on it. So much was at risk, and if she was too caught up in her thoughts, she'd let her teammates die. That was something she'd rather die than let happen.

And in many ways, she knew that was the only outcome that could happen.

—

_She awakes to a soft bed, a familiar fabric under her fingertips and she burrows her face into it, nuzzling the pillow under her head. Her eyes are closed for a few moments, before she sensed a presence by the door. She sits up slowly, but her vision goes blurry again, and she shakes her head. She eyes the person—no, people—leaning by the door frame, and felt her lips curl into a grin. "Mommy, daddy!" Her mouth moved on its own accord, and there was a childlike tone in her otherwise mature voice. Either way, she feels like this moment was a memory that was recorded, for her parents just laughed quietly and approached her._

_"Good morning, honey," her mother replied in a sing-song voice, sitting beside her and placing a kiss on her head. "What would you like for breakfast?" she spoke with some hint of mischief, and to this day, Tifa had no idea why._

_"...I'm cooking it," his father supplied, a raised eyebrow directed at her mother. "She'll just incinerate it."_

_"What? I cook fine, thank you very much!" _

_She watched with interest as her parents—moreso her mom than her dad—banter over the food. As she was about to get up, she could hear a loud, ringing noise. She frowns, looking around before she realizes what the sound was, and where it was coming from. Tifa tried to ignore it, to continue walking in her idealistic world and see how far it goes, but it continued ringing that annoying tune—pausing only for half a second before it goes off again. She didn't want to go, but..._

—

Her eyes open, and she remembers this reality she belongs in. There was barely any light illuminating through the windows, but the clock read 0730. She pushed the covers off of her and winced when the bed creaked loudly at her movement. The bed was already worn down and cheap from the moment she bought it (their finances couldn't afford the old bed she had when she was younger), so it rarely gave her a good night sleep.

She lifted herself from the mattress and walked over to the bathroom. After a few minutes of brushing her teeth and her hair, she took a quick shower and changed from her semi risqué clothing. She couldn't walk around the bar wearing nothing but a tank top and her undergarments, after all—unless she was _really_ desperate for tips. By the time she slipped on her skirt, she heard a racket downstairs. That wasn't much of a concern, but she walked down the hallway and to the stairs faster than usual.

The sight that greeted her was one she already expected, though she was bewildered as to _why_ it was happening now. In front of her very eyes was Cloud with his sword aimed at a red-haired man (one she knew) and his partner was behind him, electrorod aimed at the blond. "Great timing, Lockhart—" The sword moved further on his throat, and more movement would most definitely cause a small rip through his skin.

"What are the Turks doing here?" Tifa crossed her arms and raised her eyebrow. She felt suspicion pooling inside her stomach, and she hopes they were just doing one of their weekly visits. _Only, they usually come at Friday. It's only Wednesday..._

"We're here to inform you news on behalf of WRO," Rude answered quietly, focusing his gaze (or what seems like it) at Tifa. "Shin-Ra's aware of your involvements with us, and where your locations are. If you're planning to strike soon, Mr. Tuesti suggests you don't." He gave a pointed look at Reno.

"Cloud, let go of him," Tifa requested weakly, distracted by Rude's words.

"We can't back you up if they find you, Teef," Reno spoke, rubbing the sore spot on his throat. "All we can do is find ways for you to get out of here before Shin-Ra catches up, yo. But even then, it's gonna get ugly."

"'_Teef_'?" Cloud speaks up then, a confused look on his face as he faces her. "You know them?"

Tifa sighed, running a hand through her hair. "Yeah, I know them." She bit her lip before she gave the man a guilty smile, "I work with them."


End file.
